Sakura Kinomoto wanted to get through private school without getting noticed. Its just too bad Syaoran Li, the Tomoeda sweetheart, comes along one day and ruins that perfect ideal. Does she fall in love? Sure, if only it could be that simple.

I disclaim Card Captor
Sakura. I disclaim part of plot that belongs to PREP.
A short idea that may
be continued. Something that was on my mind for a long time.
Summary. Sakura wanted
to get through private school without getting noticed. Its too bad
Syaoran comes along one day and ruins that ideal.
Does she fall in
love? If only it could be that simple.

Love Simply
Chapter OneInvisible

Syaoran Li was the most
beautiful man in Tomoeda High. Beautiful was a word to usually
describe an elegant dancer or an exotic painting perhaps. But it was
just the word to portray Syaoran Li. He was smart, witty, funny,
athletic, and by all means the most handsome boy ever created to walk
the hallways of this private boarding school. He was the freshman who
had the hearts of all the females on board and the friendship of
every guy he cared to talk to. Everyone desperately wanted his
attention, not that everyone publicly showed it. But it was a sure
thing that at some point in a student's Tomoeda High experience
they have written "Missus 'insert first name' Li" in their
private diaries. And perhaps even some "Mister 'insert male name'
Li" as well.

Of course a guy of his
status was sure to wind up with a classy girlfriend the moment he set
foot at this prestigious school. And it was a fact that he had
recently started dating a senior girl by the name of Keriko Makao a
month in to first semester. A piece of information that was always
the center of every gossip circle and whatever one could cram in to
the school newspaper under the teacher's noses.

So it was no wonder
that Sakura's roommate should have a heart wrenching crush on him,
girlfriend or not included. This was why Sakura knew so much of this
boy even though she's never met him personally. It was because her
roommate would not ever stop talking about him. It was always "Oh,
Syaoran looked so cute today with that white polo shirt today, too
bad he got in trouble for…" or "Wasn't he hot playing soccer
today? Can you believe that he's in varsity and he's only a
freshman?" and even "I heard he was wearing red boxers today,
some girl told me about it during…" But most of the time it was
about how absolutely horrid it was for him to go out with that
"snobby stuck up senior…she hardly knows him…what does he see
in her anyways?"

Sakura already knew he
was in varsity. She already knew about how stuck up Keriko was. And
she wondered why her roommate even bothered talking to her about it
for the hundredth time anyways. She hardly paid attention to what she
was saying. It's not like she was part of her roommate's social
circle. If only she could just tell her roommate that she wasn't
interested in what Syaoran was wearing that certain day or the
details on how absolutely bitchy Keriko could be. All she wanted was
to study for the bio test tomorrow, and she wanted to do it alone.

"…Kinoomotoo? Are
you listening or not?"

Speak of the devil.
Sakura poked her nose an inch out of her enormous text book, "Yes
Meiling? You were saying how cute he looked wearing um…an orange
track jacket?"

"No, yuck! Orange?"
She sniffed at her reflection and patted down her long black hair
with one hand, "Anyways…I wasn't talking about Syaoran, I'm
going to Central today to get my nails done by a professional. What
are you going to do today?"

Sakura was about to
feign shock from her almost sincere question of curiosity when
Meiling opened her mouth again, "What am I saying, you're
probably going on a date with your bio book today, am I right?"

Sakura felt herself
once again backed up in corner by her roommate's lack of
understanding. Meiling knew she didn't have many friends, and she'd
mention it to her every time she had the chance. It was mostly
because Sakura was in Tomoeda with a scholarship alone. Her family
would never be able to afford such a luxurious school like the rest
of the students. For instance today was a Sunday which meant no
school. Most everyone had left for Central, the city nearby to go
shopping or partying. Only a few people stuck around Tomoeda on
Sundays. Half of them were finding places to make out anyways. That
left about one percent of the entire student population in their
dorms studying for a bio test.

Sakura bit down on her
tongue, "No, I'm going out." She didn't quite understand why
she was lying; maybe she was finally crumbling under the pressure of
constant insults.

Meiling turned around
and stared at her, "Really? Wow, I can't believe Kinomoto is
actually human, are you going to Central?"

"No…I'm going to
the…the café downtown…" She said easily, her book now
placed shut on her lap.

Her roommate turned
again to face the mirror, "Oh…well, have fun sweetheart, I'll
see you before curfew." Meiling gave her a wink and left the room.
Sakura knew what the wink meant. It meant she had to stay up after
eleven to unlock the window for the girl to sneak back in. Meiling
never came back before curfew.

The café was a
small run down store at the corner of an even more rundown street.
Sakura had to take the bus there. It was five in the afternoon when
she arrived so the air was quite cool. She realized that she might as
well wander downtown to make up for her lie; it did make her feel
slightly better. Her bio book was tucked in her bag. The bell jingled
when she pushed the door open. The bartender didn't even look up as
she found an empty seat among old business men to sit down. The room
smelled of old leather and fresh cocoa beans. For some reason the
mixture of the two made her want to throw up.

She daintily placed her
bio book on the table and almost immediately made herself invisible.
She had become rather good at it since she had entered Tomoeda High.
Knowing that most of the kids there weren't on scholarship like she
was and that they all had rich parents and wealth beyond her
imagination it became obvious she wouldn't fit in very well. So she
made herself invisible. She was nothing but the background. And it
worked. Nobody came to talk to her, so she didn't talk to anyone
else. Except for Meiling, who would never talk to her in public. Only
in the privacy of their dorms would they share a simple and usually
insulting conversation. But because of her ability to become
unnoticeable she knew everyone at the small private school fairly
well through things she'd overhear. For instance she knew that the
small mousy haired girl in her bio class named Rika had divorced
parents and a pet hamster she kept secretly in her closet. She knew a
girl named Daidouji had a single parent who was the president of a
very famous fashion company. She knew a boy named Hiirigizawa who
didn't have any parents but owned an enormous mansion where he used
to live by himself. She also knew he was the class president and
quite popular thought not as popular as Syaoran Li. A noise startled
Sakura from her seat. It was the door, and it was a shock to see none
other than Syaoran Li stroll in.

Sakura watched the boy
walk to the counter and there was this sense of nervousness that
crept inside her gut that someone else from Tomoeda had just entered
her private space. And not just someone else, this was Syaoran Li.
But what was wrenching around inside her was how it seemed positively
delightful that Meiling wasn't here to see that he was wandering
around alone.

He must've noticed
someone was watching because he froze and looked about as if he was
searching for something. Sakura quickly stared at her book, seemingly
engrossed in the anatomy of fruit fly. It hadn't at first seemed
possible that such a perfect man could possibly exist, but she had
just seen him and she would've believed it. He was very tall, too
tall to be like the other freshmen. Brown messy hair that gave an
impression he didn't need to have nice hair to impress girls. He
was wearing a simple dark blue shirt and jeans as if he was just
taking an easy stroll. But it seemed so unreal that Sakura was in the
presence of such an idolized figure. She had always imagined him in
collared white shirts and khaki pants with combed hair. Sakura felt
for the first time in her life if she had dressed appropriately
enough and self consciously felt too plain for him even if he was all
the way across the room.

He hadn't seen her
but she had felt his eyes graze the back of her neck once. Maybe she
was imagining things, maybe he wasn't really there. She was too
scared to look back and check. Her fingers trembled and her throat
gagged. There was just something wrong with her. It was as if she
could scarcely breathe, the air was suffocating. Maybe it was the
smell of leather and cheap coffee. She reached in to her bag for a
tissue but realized she had left them in her dorm. Sakura wanted to
leave the room and get some fresh air but didn't want to give
Syaoran a chance to catch notice of her. Maybe he'd talk to her,
maybe he'd ignore her. The possibilities were terrifying so she sat
stuck to her chair and held a shaking book in her hands. Then the
waiter approached the table. He was a fat man with a greasy beard. It
was revolting to see there were crumbs stuck in the wiry tangle of
hair. And when he spoke Sakura could smell stale pizza. She realized
she was hot and had broken a sweat doing nothing. Her face was
flushed. She was panting for clean air. The man was speaking but she
couldn't hear him. The world flipped upside down and then she was
numb.

She felt something soft
brush by her forehead and her vision cleared. Syaoran was hovering
above her with a glass of water. He looked completely calm, not one
bit of concern on his face. Sakura rushed to sit up from the dirty
café floor but he pushed her back down with one hand.

"You need to lie down
for a couple minutes okay? You just fainted." He said casually as
if it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Sakura felt horrible.
She had just passed out in front of Syaoran Li and he had seen it
all. What did he think of her now?

"Did you eat
breakfast today?"

Sakura realized he was
asking her a question but couldn't find the words to answer. Yes,
I had a bagel and a cup of milk. Nothing escaped her dry lips.

"Hey! Do you have
anything to eat here?" He asked what must've been the store
manager.

"Of course! This is a
damn coffee shop, what do you want?"

"Anything, something
small, a piece of bread…something like that."

Sakura lifted a hand to
protest, "No, it's okay really, I had breakfast."

"How many fingers am
I holding up?" He said suddenly.

Sakura squinted at them
for about two seconds because she was still adjusting to her sight
and answered, "Three."

"Very good, I've
always wanted to do that, actually."

If Sakura hadn't been
feeling quite well, she would've attempted a light chuckle.

"Are you sick?" He
asked, and put a palm over her forehead. His hand was nice and warm,
"Nope, no fever, how are you feeling? I still think you should eat
something."

Sakura made another
attempt to get up and he didn't stop her, "I'm okay…really I
am…sorry for troubling you…"

"No worries, but you
should really stay inside in someplace cool maybe, this place broke
its air conditioning a while ago don't you know?"

She wanted to say she
did know, and that she was perfectly fine, but instead she just
stared at him as if he was from a foreign planet.

I know, Sakura
thought. I know exactly who you are. But she didn't want to
seem as if she had been stalking him. It's Meiling whose been
stalking you. She protested to herself.

"Nice to meet you…"
Sakura hesitated; he must not know that I go to Tomoeda, "I'm
Kinomoto Sakura."

But he was already
focusing his attention elsewhere. Sakura felt as if she was boring
him. As if having her pass out was probably the most exciting thing
she had even done. And now since she was fine, he would discard her
away as part of the scenery again. Sakura felt slightly disappointed.

"Okay Kinomoto, I
know a place not far from here, and its outside so I don't think
you'll go and pass out on me again, how about we head there?"

Sakura was staring at
him again as if he had uttered incomprehensible words.

"It's okay
r-really…I'm fine…you don't have to – "

"You don't want to
come?"

Sakura flushed,
"I…don't want to bother you…"

He let out a small
laugh. It was a very simple carefree laugh and it sounded so kind to
Sakura's ears. No boy had ever laughed like Syaoran did, at least
not to her.

"Don't be a fool,"
It wasn't an insult, she knew it, but even so, she felt as if the
words they were exchanging was something like old friends would do.
And that's when she would've given the world for someone to walk
by the café window at the corner of a rundown street to see
her talking with Syaoran Li. What would they say? "Did you hear?
Syaoran was talking to some nobody…like actually talking to
her!" Her life would probably never be the same. She'd never be
able to become invisible anymore. She'd be labeled the freshman
girl who had conversed with Syaoran Li one Sunday while he was alone
when he was supposed to be going out with Keriko Makao.

"You coming or not?"
He said suddenly, snapping Sakura to reality. He had beautiful eyes.
They showed no emotion and yet they were still so full of mystery and
feeling.

"Yes, I'm coming,
let me just get my bag…" When Sakura grabbed her bag she realized
her fingers were numb and she didn't mind one bit. All that was on
her mind was that she was going to be outside with Syaoran Li.
Nothing Meiling could do that day could possibly ruin it for her.

It didn't take long
to reach the place Syaoran had been describing. Sakura was surprised
to find that it was already pretty dark out. It was a quaint small
bake shop about two blocks down. The sat across from each other,
Sakura felt very stiff and nervous. He seemed more interested at his
surroundings then the girl in front of him, which made Sakura realize
this was nothing more than an action of pity then really anything
else. She was blind to think he had feelings for her.

"So…" He said.
She was staring at her hands when he spoke and snapped her head up to
look at him. She couldn't find the will power to smile. He wasn't
smiling either, but she felt she could at least…express some facial
expression to show she was happy.

He gave a small shrug
and looked around uncomfortably. Sakura wondered if she had said
something wrong but her throat had closed off to any more unnecessary
commentary.

"So…are you a
freshman too?"

Sakura was so surprised
that she gaped at him. He had known? He knew she went to Tomoeda? A
small flutter of hope shined down on her. So he had probably seen her
before, noticed her even.

"Is there something
on my face?" He said, and chuckled at his own joke. Sakura willed
herself to look away. She loved it when he laughed but she felt as if
she was becoming part of society. She was becoming one of his adoring
fans.

"Yes, I'm a
freshman."

"Alright! And I had
thought no one our age hung around downtown anymore, nowadays
everyone storms Central. I'm a freshman too by the way."

Sakura forced herself
to nod. It seemed downright weird hearing him introduce himself as if
he was actually clueless to the fact the entire school knew his name.

"But the air here
isn't that great, it's because of the old factory, it's been
cleared out but there's still waste and it stinks up the
neighborhood."

Sakura knew that of
course, everyone knew that, but she nodded anyways and pretended to
fake interest.

"What are you doing
down here anyways? By yourself I mean."

"Studying," Sakura
said, and held up her book for emphasis.

"Can't you do that
in the dorms? It's actually much nicer than we take for granted,
though sometimes it's like a freaking prison there."

His comment didn't
really need an answer, so Sakura simply stared at her hands again.
And once again she felt absurdly plain.

"Why are you here by
yourself?" Sakura said before she realized it, "Without Keriko
that is."

"Keriko? Gods, you
know about that too?"

"Sorry."

"Don't apologize
for it," He sounded angry.

"Sorry." Sakura
said before she could stop herself.

He sighed dejectedly as
if he had given up on something, "Why does everyone think that I
have to go everywhere with her anyways?"

"You don't like
her?" Sakura asked on impulse.

"She's just so hard
to manage …" He said, "But it's only because everyone makes
it harder. With such a small school, nothing ever escapes anyone's
radar. I mean…she cares so much about her appearance and she's so
paranoid about everything that could ruin her day, did you know she
reads her horoscope at least twice a day, its like, give it a break
will you?"

Sakura nodded her head
again. It felt so personal and strange hearing this coming from
Syaoran's mouth that she couldn't find anything to say.

"Do you want to go to
the arcade?"

"Arcade?" It was a
sudden change of topic.

"Yes, I told a friend
of mine I'd meet him there."

Sakura looked at him;
suddenly, she wanted him to go away, "Then you should go meet him."

His eyes flickered
across her, "But you'd be all by yourself, there's nobody else
here to talk to."

Sakura tucked the book
in her bag, "I really don't want to bother you and your friend –"
What she really wanted was for him to disappear, so she wouldn't
have this nervous butterfly in her gut anymore. So she could pretend
she had imagined the entire thing. So she could go back to being
plain and boring.

"Look Kinomoto, it's
alright, okay? Stop acting like you want to be alone all the time."

The last comment stung
Sakura in her chest. It was as if he had seen straight through her.

"Alright…I'll
go."

He didn't say another
word.

It turned out the boy
he was going to meet was none other then the Hirrigizawa boy who
owned his own mansion that Sakura knew. Or knew as in, she noticed
him. Apparently they were good friends, because the first thing they
did was punch each other in the shoulder. Sakura stood timidly by,
she felt like such an intruder on Syaoran Li's personal life. It
wasn't supposed to be her standing there; it was supposed to be
Keriko or even Meiling.

"Hello Kinomoto,"
Hirrigaizawa Eriol said with a wink, "Funny running in to you here
with Syaoran."

Sakura decided she half
liked and disliked Eriol from the moment they met. She liked him
because he knew her name, and didn't because well…she wasn't
exactly sure what his intentions were by mentioning Syaoran's name.
And there was also that fact that he was their class president. He
must be pretty popular to get so many votes. Sakura felt herself
shrinking standing by both Eriol and Syaoran.

"Cut it out Eriol, I
met her at the old café, it wasn't anything planned."

Sakura felt unusually
insulted. It was as if Syaoran was excusing himself from being seen
with someone like her.

"Doesn't matter
now, Keriko's going to pissed knowing you're spending a Sunday
here with me then with her and the gorgeous beauty of the mall."

"Shut up."

"Kinomoto, are you
friends with Keriko?"

Half of Sakura wanted
to blurt out are you crazy? But it came out more like, "Sure
I am, we're best buddies!"

Syaoran froze like a
statue. Eriol stared at her. Sakura realized they didn't catch her
sarcasm.

"I mean, I send her
about ten emails a day about how Pisces is going to ruin our vacation
if we don't make sure our make up's perfect at least ten times a
day!"

Syaoran clapped the
back of Sakura's head with his palm. It was almost a gesture of
affection if it didn't actually hurt somewhat, "You stupid idiot,
you are just full of it aren't you?" He was smiling.

Sakura rubbed the back
of her head and made a mock expression of pain, "You shouldn't
hit girls."

"You should make him
kiss your boo boo," Eriol remarked and ducked at Syaoran's swing.

"Forget it, you're
not worth my time," The two laughed. Sakura felt the corners of her
mouth twitch. If Meiling could see her now. She'd probably be
shocked speechless.

An hour or two slipped
by and Eriol left, saying something about an early start so he could
catch Daidouji in the library. Once again, Sakura felt somewhat
separated from reality. What was she doing? She should be studying
for biology. But she was afraid if she said one wrong thing, Syaoran
Li would become just a figment of imagination and she'd wake up
from a dream. She shut her eyes. Then she opened them again. Nope, he
was still there. So she wasn't dreaming.

Syaoran suddenly
started and he flipped his wrist up to his face, "Crap, it's
late."

Sakura panicked, "Late?
How late?"

"Eleven fifteen,"
He read and stood up. Sakura followed.

"Eleven fifteen?
Oh god, that's passed curfew!"

"Hey! Relax okay!"
He grabbed her shoulders and she froze. He was touching her. If they
hadn't been under the dim street light, she would've sworn he'd
see her turn red, "We won't get in trouble, I do this all the
time." His hands slipped from her shoulders and brushed past her
elbows almost longingly but she could've imagined it.

Something about the way
he so casually remarked that made herself feel completely innocent.
As if it was entirely not her fault. She took a deep breath, "We
can take the bus."

"Excellent idea!"
He said. And Sakura basked in his joking praise. They walked to the
station. He strolled in front and Sakura behind him by a step or two.
It was as if nothing had changed since the last couple hours. Sakura
wondered when they got back to school if he'd ever speak to her
again. Unlikely, she thought. This was probably the last time she'd
ever speak to him. She felt sick again when they reached the bus.
Syaoran walked in first and Sakura realized as soon as she saw the
driver that she didn't have any money with her.

"I'm sorry! I can
bring you money as soon as – "

"Don't sweat it
sug, your boyfriend paid."

It didn't make sense
to her, "boyfriend?"

Syaoran had reached for
her wrist and gently pulled her down to a seat. The bus wasn't
crowded but the strangers that cluttered the aisles had always scared
Sakura.

"Hey Kinomoto, you
room with um..."

"Meiling," she
answered. It felt as if they were exchanging a private conversation.

"Right, my dear
cousin, how is she?"

Sakura paled, "Cousin?"

Syaoran looked at her
as if she was a joke, "C'mon, you didn't know that? Almost
everyone knows that."

Meiling had failed to
mention that piece of information to her. Even when she had been
describing how close she was to Syaoran, Sakura would never have
guessed they were related. It seemed Meiling didn't wish to share
it with her. Which was understanding but still shocking.

"No, she never told
me."

"Really," Syaoran
said with an amused expression now, "It must be quite a problem to
room with her; she's been like that forever you know."

"Nope, she's no
problem at all," Sakura said with such an honest expression that
they both laughed. Sakura felt his hand fall over hers and she let it
rest there. It was almost natural if only there wasn't that
lingering confusion that Syaoran was someone else's. She could
scarcely believe this was happening to her of all people. It was her
Syaoran had chosen to be with. Not Meiling, not Keroko, but Sakura.

"You have beautiful
eyes," He said suddenly. Sakura held in a small breath. She had
heard it before, but it was so different when he had said it,
intimate almost. It was a kind of compliment you couldn't give out
to everyone. It wasn't like she was wearing perfume and he had
complimented on how she smelled nice. She exhaled gently. It was like
breathing in a fairy tale. She wished the bus trip would last
forever. But it ended sooner than she thought it would.

"Tomoeda!" The
driver called. It sounded depressingly like the words "the end"
in a book perhaps. Syaoran waited for her to slide out of her seat
before following her down the stairs. He seemed oblivious to the
thoughts racing across her head.

"Well, my dorms are
that way," He said. Sakura already knew that. Meiling had told her
where he stayed a billion times. Sakura felt numb as they stood
facing each other in front of the looming Tomoeda building. It felt
as if she had betrayed herself. She had fallen for him.

"Good night," He
said simply, turned, and left.

Sakura waited for him
to fade away before heading back towards her dorm. She would have to
sneak past her dorm mistress. Meiling was probably furious with her
but she was strangely unafraid.

To no one's surprise,
Meiling's face was livid when Sakura entered the room.

"Where were you?"

"Out," Sakura
answered and buried herself quickly beneath the covers. She was too
tired to give in to Meiling's mood.

"Out where?"
Meiling hissed, "You were supposed to open the window for me! The
senior president saw me in the tree and laughed so hard his face
turned purple! I'll be the laughing stock for a week! And you come
back and say you were out? What kind of - "

"I was out okay!
You're not my mother so leave me alone!" Sakura snapped to her
own amazement. Meiling was too shocked to say anything.

After a moment of
silence she let out a frustrated sigh and a blunt "Fine!" The
sound of rustling sheets signaled she had gone to bed.

Sakura inhaled the
scent of her pillow. How badly she wanted to relate her story with
someone so it wouldn't fade away in the morning like a dream. It
was funny how Meiling didn't even question or hesitate with her
excuse. It was most likely because Sakura was the last person on
earth to lie about something like spending a day with Tomoeda's
sweetheart. It pained her that she had no one to tell. But it was
unlikely she'd ever forget.

Sakura smiled, it felt
as if she had a secret. A secret all to herself.

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